Venting: PASBR vs. SSB

I've been following this game since, essentially before it ever even existed. Omar Kendall has been quoted saying that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was born in the hearts and minds of the fans long before SuperBot or Sony ever got around to developing it. I am one of those fans and I can remember spending time as a young boy thinking about scenarios in which Crash Bandicoot would enter Spyro the Dragon's world (or vice verse) to do battle and ultimately fight alongside each other to face a common threat. Keep in mind that I used to think about things like this before there even was such a thing as "Super Smash Bros."

Now here I am, more than a decade later, 20 years-old and still (if not more) enamored with PlayStation and I'm finally seeing the crossover I've always wanted. Albeit, without Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon (yet) but with the heart in same place, nevertheless.

Just for the record, I am a pretty big fan of Super Smash Bros. and I would definitely place any one of the three entries in a list of my favorite games.

Let me just say, before I get into to main point of this post, that I've played and loved PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (the beta) and there is nothing anyone can say or do to diminish my enjoyment for this game and (unless something just goes horribly wrong during development) it has potential to be one of my favorite games of all time.

But I honestly cannot stand how every aspect of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is always dissected and put under a microscope in order to be compared with Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In the beginning, yes, it was 100% warranted to compare the two games because they're both conceptually identical. But now we're six months on and literally every preview written about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale simply spends it's time weighing it against "the almighty" Brawl.

Usual video game previews discuss the core mechanics of whatever game the preview is about and also talks about what can be expected, maybe a developer's quotes, or things of this nature. However, in a preview written about PlayStation All-Stars, you'll notice that "Super Smash Bros." is written at least once in the opening paragraph and about 8 times throughout the entire article.

I believe that if someone has an opinion about PlayStation All-Stars (good or bad) it should be based on the games own accord. However, whether the author is aware of it or not, gaming journalists use Brawl as the measuring stick. I don't mean to take anything away from Super Smash Bros. but I hardly think that it has a pitch-perfect formula that other games in the same genre must emulate, there's much room for innovation but it seems certain gamers and journalists alike are far too wrapped up in Nintendo's web to accept anything new that dare challenge their nostalgia.

Or maybe PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is criticized or even ridiculed for not containing a traditional health system however, people seem to forget that even the "infallible" Super Smash Bros. doesn't even contain, what would be considered, a traditional health system.

Every comparision always boils down to either that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is too much like Super Smash Bros. or that it's not enough like Super Smash Bros.. It's either bashed for being unoriginal or bashed for being different in all the wrong ways.

I honestly don't think that I've ever read or heard anyone give an legitimate reason as to what makes Super Smash Bros. better than PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and I don't I ever will. In all honesty, I believe that whether people are self-aware or not, it works like this: because people played Super Smash Bros. first, it means it's the best and because it's ring-out mechanic and gameplay elements have been emulated so often it furthers the subconscious perception that Nintendo rules the brawler genre with an iron fist due to their "unbeatable" formula.

I'm done with this post, I know some people probably didn't read it because it was kind of long but I just wanted to vent. Does anything have anything to add?

I hate Signatures because I can never tell if it's apart of their post.

Re: Venting: PASBR vs. SSB

And does no one else find it unfair that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is constantly compared to Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Not just Super Smash Bros. in general but specifically Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

A game like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is craving its own path in a fairly unexplored genre with a brand new studio that's never made a single game before is expected to best a game like Super Smash Bros. Brawl that's had three games to refine it's gameplay mechanics.

Yeah, seems mighty fair to me.NOT.

I hate Signatures because I can never tell if it's apart of their post.

Re: Venting: PASBR vs. SSB

Mustachio, I've gotta ask you this: Do you want to be a part of my Daily Threads' Second Opinion Segment at some point? Because if you've got more of that locked up somewhere, I would love to give you a shot at some point!